Pushover Princess
by Amy-Star
Summary: Lily knew that she would hate Alison the moment she laid eyes on her. Rufus/Lily, TV series, Pre-series.


Lily knew that she would hate Alison the moment she laid eyes on her.

She had of course heard of her before when Rufus and his band mates would get nostalgic for the past, usually when they drank too much tequila, and would tell tales of their wayward youth.

From these stories, Lily could gather a few things about Alison. She was creative in just about everything from slam poetry to painting. She was also apparently quite adept at graffiti art according to Rufus who watched her deface the back wall of the local police station, everyone laughed at that but Lily found no humor in it. She was Rufus's high school "friend" though his friends would often make lewd comments about their relationship and if Lily was around Rufus would suddenly become silent or change the subject to something else. To some, Lily supposed people who had no taste at all, she was beautiful.

None of these characteristics endeared Alison to Lily; she would have been satisfied never to see her. After all, despite once being in Rufus's life she was no longer in it, which of course meant she must not have been that important.

Unfortunately, Lily would soon find out that Alison had this nasty habit of showing up when she was not wanted.

It happened last Saturday when Lily and Lincoln Hawk had gone to an after show party at someone's house whose name Lily did not know, it did not take long for the house to be packed to the brim with people and Lily wondered if even half of these people attended the Lincoln Hawk concert. Then again, the opportunity for free beer could draw in large numbers of people seemingly out of nowhere.

Lily was sitting on the cold concrete backdoor steps of the house, and she was glad to find a moment of peace and quiet. She hated all the loud voices that came together in meaningless noise that no one could separate into words and value, and she hated having to navigate through the sea of jumbling sweaty bodies. It was the one part of her old life that she missed, being alone with your own thoughts and not having to deal with people all the time. Lily was enjoying fiddling around with her camera and savoring the cool breeze on her damp skin, when she heard the scrap of boots against pavement.

At first, she thought it was Rufus searching for her, at parties like this they would separate from each other, but he always managed to find her no matter where she hid herself. When she looked up the person she saw was not Rufus, it was a girl about her age, with light brown haircut very short and stone washed blue jeans and a black tank top. The girl seemed to represent the 'anti-style' of the grunge movement that went against conformity; Lily believed it had more to do with laziness and a lack of caring then making some sort of political statement.

"You with some magazine?" The girl asked peering up at Lily through the dim streetlight, to Lily's annoyance not even bothering to introduce herself.

"No," Lily replied smoothly but said nothing else to show that she wanted to continue the conversation.

"Well I thought maybe you were, considering you took so many pictures at the show."

That got Lily's attention; she did not particularly care for other people watching her, especially when she did not know they were.

"Listen I'm not interested in girls if that's what you're trying to do."

The stranger shook her head in laughter before walking closer," Guess you don't know who I' am. Maybe I expected too much out of Rufus."

Lily stare at her carefully before it hit her," You're Alison."

"Oh," the girl named Alison face brightened up and Lily could see her brown eyes shinning in delight, "So Rufus does talk about me."

"I wouldn't go that far," Lily said slowly leaning back into the steps then stretched out her long legs, "You're name comes up in conversations from time to time."

"Well that's still something," Alison insisted in a pleased voice that annoyed Lily.

"If you consider being brought up in stories about past mistakes as 'something' then I guess it is."

Alison was frowning at her now with hands clenched into fists at her sides. Lily decided that if the girl decided to attack her, she would use the empty beer bottle beside her as a weapon. Lily cared very little about the fact that this girl came from the so-called rough side of town, Lily was from Manhattan where the weak perished and the strong survived.

"I never thought you were Rufus's taste," the girl took in Lily's long wavy blonde tresses and black baby doll dress with matching high heels," No offense but you look like a pushover princess, I wonder what he sees in you."

"You're kind of a bitch aren't you?" Lily stood up walking down the steps without breaking eye contact with the other girl.

Alison returned it with a dark smile, "Maybe Rufus likes that type; I know he liked it in me."

"Maybe it was also the thing that drove him away from you," Lily sighed before expertly flipping a lock of hair over her shoulder," Listen this is getting boring, if your intention was to come here and scare me, you failed."

Lily turned away walking back up the steps deciding that dealing with a crowd of exasperating and loud people was preferable then dealing with one annoying person.

"We slept together! Back in high school and it meant something."

"And let me guess it only happened the one time," Lily calmly replied while bending down to pick up her camera, Alison remained silent so Lily took that as a yes.

"Oh honey," Lily said with a edge of pity in her voice, grey-blue eyes narrowing at the other girl," You may have been the girl that he screwed with that one time, but I'm the one that had him coming back for more."

When Lily informed Rufus of her confrontation with Alison at the party two days back, he laughed about it as if it were the funniest thing he heard.

"You know," Lily seethed from her position sitting on the ledge of the bathtub as she brushed out her wet hair, trying not to show how pissed off she was," Most guys would be a little more concerned about a situation like this."

Rufus gave her a side long glance, dark eyes staring at her in amusement, "Yea well you seem fairly capable of handling yourself."

Lily scowled though pretending it was because her comb snagged through a tough tangle in her hair," Aren't you afraid she might reveal something horrible about your past?"

Rufus simply shrugged nonchalantly, "You know the worst of it already, besides all the bad stuff I've done mostly have to do with your influence."

Lily decided not to dignify that statement with a reply, though if she could think up one that would wipe that smirk off his face she would. She found it completely irritating that even when he angered her, he could still find a way to charm his way back into her good graces. That and seeing him standing there in only a pair of grey sweatpants, his black hair damp from the shower they took together, and an amused expression on his face, Lily simultaneously wanted to punch him in the face and kiss him hard.

"Though if she comes around again," Lily paused in her movements due to the serious turn in his voice," Tell me and I'll make sure she lays off."

With that, he left the bathroom leaving Lily to sit alone in silence an unreadable expression on her face, when she finished with her nightly tasks that ensured her beauty would remain in the morning, Lily shut off the bathroom light and walked down the dark hallway. Even that it was night it was far from being quiet, you could still hear the roar of traffic from outside and the couple upstairs were once again arguing loudly.

Lily hovered at the doorway of the bedroom watching Rufus read from a book once of his band mates lent to him, taking in a breath Lily walked in and silently flopped down on the bed. She stared up at the ceiling watching a spider creep slowly along and hating each minute that passed in awkward silence. There was a weird distance between them now that made Lily wish that the spider were Alison so that she could crush her.

"You don't get it do you?" Lily announced coldly still starring up at the ceiling," The last thing I want you to do is go talk to her. So she can remind you how perfect she is and how much of a stuck up, cold, self centered person I' am."

Rufus put his book away and gave her a confused look," But I already know how much of a stuck up, cold, self centered person you are."

If Lily's mother had not drilled into her daughter's head how important is was to maintain a controlled exterior she would have grabbed her pillow and smothered him.

"Well then that settles it; the two of you can ride off into the sunset together for all I care."

The next thing she heard was Rufus's laughter which only enraged her more, she was about to turn over and punch him when she felt his arms wrap around her and his lips place kisses on her neck," But I would also tell her how sexy, exciting and amazing you are."

"And what else?"

"And that I need you, that no one compares to you, that you are my inspiration, that spark of light in my dark existence, the reason why…"

"Okay, okay," Lily could not help but giggle at his overdramatic proclamation of love," I understand."

Lily leaned into his touch, and then rolled her body so that she was straddling her waist, their lips met in an intense tangle of tongues and desire, hands moving to touch any place of exposed skin. When they pulled apart, Lily smiled softly down at Rufus combing her hand through his thick black hair, only to have him start laughing again.

"Rufus," Lily said tersely though more confused then angry," What are you laughing at?"

"I just find it funny she called you a 'pushover princess', that isn't even close to an accurate description of you."

"Glad to see you've been paying attention," Lily replied before moving in to resume their foreplay.

Author Note: So here's hoping no one was offended by the slight Alison bashing…Please leave a comment if it pleases you.


End file.
